Chapter 176: The Shocked Black Zetsu
The Hidden Rain Village—hovering over it no longer was the shadow of divinity. It had been shattered by an inhuman battle.
Behind the dissipating storm clouds, the warm, dazzling sun slowly emerged, casting light over the land below.
But unfortunately… the village that once basked in a brief period of glory was now a picture of ruin.
"Save me!"
"Lord Pain! Lord Pain!"
"Where's the medical team? Medical team! Don't just stand there—assist the main unit with the rescue efforts!"
…
It was a scene from hell.
The colossal shockwave had torn through the village in an instant. Massive slabs of debris rained down like fire from the heavens, smashing into the heart of the Rain Village, right where the majority of the villagers had gathered.
Buildings collapsed. Blood and bits of flesh splattered across the streets.
Screams echoed. Cries for help rang out. Explosions tore through the air.
Ryosuke watched the devastation, the cries, and the chaos below. His mind drifted to a memory—the Hidden Mist's invasion of Konoha, a battle he had witnessed firsthand.
And then… to another memory.
The one from the original timeline—where Pain, self-proclaimed god, had unleashed his divine might upon Konoha and left the village in ruins.
Were the Rain Ninjas innocent?
No. Under Pain's rule, the Land of Rain was governed through violence. Most Hidden Rain shinobi had long since stained their hands with blood.
They weren't merely defenders of their homeland. They were agents of Akatsuki, wandering the battlefield in the shadows, collecting bounties and carrying out orders tied to the tailed beast hunts.
Were the civilians innocent?
Not quite. While most were powerless and had never left the village in their lives, they still accepted the spoils brought home by their returning "heroes." They rejoiced in the wealth earned through conquest and bloodshed. They took pride in it.
To enjoy the blessings borne from sin without accepting any responsibility—was that not hypocrisy?
There is no absolute right or wrong in this world. No clear line between black and white. Only different perspectives.
Even Ryosuke himself bore sins.
But he acknowledged them.
He was willing to face them. Willing to take responsibility.
Even if one day, the people of the Hidden Rain came to him with hatred in their eyes—knocked him down, or even killed him—he would accept it.
What made him laugh, however, were the ones who refused to accept their guilt. Those who cast all blame on others… on the world… while claiming their actions were for peace.
Let Akatsuki come. Let them claim their cause is justice.
Ryosuke wasn't entirely selfless in his thoughts. Part of it stemmed from the new ocular ability he had awakened. The other part came from the sheer absurdity of it all. That irony filled him with mockery.
In the past, he wouldn't have wasted time arguing with a lunatic driven by self-delusion and revenge.
But today was different.
Nagato stood frozen.
Behind him, his subordinates cried for help. In front of him, an intruder—Ryosuke—whose words struck too close to home.
Because everything Ryosuke said… was true.
Nagato knew it too.
From the moment Yahiko died, his hatred for the world had only grown stronger. The ideals Yahiko once held had been corrupted—twisted by pain and vengeance.
Nagato had noticed. But he chose to ignore it.
The moment he awakened the Rinnegan, the seed of peace in his heart was replaced by overwhelming power—and hatred. The only truth that remained was:
"Right and wrong are written by the strong."
He believed that if the world knew pain, people would cherish peace.
And with divine power in his grasp, no one could stop him.
Until now.
Until someone stood before him—someone of equal power and clarity—who stripped away his mask of righteousness and forced him to confront his own heart.
Had it been anyone else, Nagato would've dismissed the words. Unworthy. Ignorant. Insignificant.
But the man in front of him…
He listened.
He reflected.
"…Never mind."
An indifferent voice slipped from Pain's mouth, echoing Nagato's thoughts.
Was he angry? No.
Embarrassed? Perhaps.
But above all, there was a deep, complicated emotion gnawing at him. One that refused to go away.
"…You're right."
Slowly, Pain rose into the air, chakra swirling around him as it was drawn into his body.
"I am a hypocrite. A selfish man."
"I have been willfully ignoring something… because I didn't want to think about it. That while the world suffers pain, what happens to those around me?"
"If I can take pleasure in the suffering of others and still sleep soundly at night, then I'm no better than those who inflicted pain on me and my comrades."
His voice was calm, almost divine.
But Ryosuke could see it clearly—he had gone mad.
As Pain ascended higher into the sky, Ryosuke narrowed his eyes.
"…But where is he getting all this chakra?"
After their long battle, Ryosuke's chakra reserves were running low. The man floating above him shouldn't have had enough left either.
Then he realized.
He's pulling chakra directly from the tailed beasts sealed in the Outer Path Statue…
Pain rose, silhouetted against the brilliant sun.
The lavender Rinnegan in his eyes pulsed with an aura of godhood.
"Lord Pain!"
"It's Lord Pain! He's come to save us!"
"Lord God!"
Even the central district of the Hidden Rain Village—ground zero of the destruction—could see him now.
Civilians dropped to their knees. They wept. They prayed. They worshiped.
They truly believed… he was a god.
But Pain didn't look back.
"I once thought I was a god," he said, his voice cutting through the air like a blade. "But I was just a mortal, selfish and fueled by vengeance."
"If this world must understand pain—then I too must feel it."
"Only when all people, myself included, experience ultimate pain… will peace become real."
"I should have been an observer. An enforcer. Not a participant…"
As he finished, he opened his arms wide—his gaze locked onto Ryosuke, who stood below.
"Thank you for making me understand all this. But unfortunately, you no longer have enough chakra, which means you won't get the chance to escape and witness what I'm about to do next."
"This Hidden Rain Village... will become your grave. I admit, with your strength, you are undoubtedly the second god of this world after me. But today, you must die. This place will become the first graveyard where gods are buried."
In the dimly lit room, Nagato's pale, thin face suddenly flushed with color.
Just moments ago, as White Zetsu's six bodies merged into his own one after another, an overwhelming surge of chakra flooded into him—far more than he had imagined. His depleted reserves were instantly restored, and more than that, brimming with excess!
That life energy revitalized his hollowed body, bringing not only power—but hope.
Who were they?
Nagato grew warier of White Zetsu and the masked man's identities. But at the same time, he felt his conviction solidify.
With clarity surging in his heart, he cast aside hesitation.
After witnessing Ryosuke's strength firsthand, his desire to grow even stronger intensified.
From this moment on, Nagato would no longer remain a fragile, decaying mortal. He would abandon his old name and rise as a true god—a god that stood above all.
He would master the power the old god had given him.
And it would all begin with slaying gods.
"From now on, I cast away my past. I will take the name Pain as my godhood—and bring absolute peace to this world. Shinra Tensei!"
The moment his words fell, a terrifying aura erupted from Pain's body.
Though it was the same Rinnegan ability, its power was now vastly different.
Shinra Tensei's force didn't rely solely on the Rinnegan—it drew heavily from the chakra supplied to it.
In the past, Nagato had dispersed his chakra across his six Pain puppets, pulling from their reserves when needed. But Ryosuke had destroyed five of them at the start of the battle.
Without them, he couldn't fully wield the Shinra Tensei at its current level. He had also held back, unwilling to damage the Hidden Rain Village behind him.
But now...
The path of divinity demanded the severance of humanity—the loss of empathy, of bonds. All that remained was purpose, ideals, and power.
His cold gaze locked onto Ryosuke. No one else existed in his world now—not allies, not comrades who had once fought beside him. Nothing.
Boom—
As divine power burst forth, a roar echoed that shattered everything in its path.
Centered on Pain floating in the sky, the world itself seemed to tremble. Clouds tore apart. Rocks and dust below were blasted away as though fleeing in fear.
A blinding light followed—so intense it robbed everyone in the Hidden Rain Village of their sight.
And then... devastation.
Before most could react, the repulsive force annihilated them. Only a scarce few managed to erect jutsu barriers in the fleeting instant the light arrived.
But even those could barely resist. Under this divine force, only a handful survived.
In less than a second—the Hidden Rain Village was no more. Reduced to ruin.
It was divine punishment made real.
Pain looked upon the destruction below with grim satisfaction—until something made him pause.
One person stood untouched.
Ryosuke.
In the midst of that chaotic wasteland, Ryosuke stood calm, his hand raised before him with a faint smile.
The same power that razed the village could not even graze him. It halted before his open palm as if blocked by some invisible wall.
Even the building behind him remained intact, sheltered by his power.
"What… did he do?!"
Pain's brow furrowed. Ryosuke wasn't struggling at all.
His muscular, bare torso was etched with black markings, and chakra pulsed thickly through him—renewed and brimming.
Just like himself, Ryosuke's chakra had fully recovered.
"…."
But Ryosuke didn't respond. He remained focused on the repulsive force before him. Despite his calm demeanor, something felt off.
Pain narrowed his eyes, expending more life force into the Rinnegan—and saw it.
"Just... a wave of the palm?"
His voice trembled with confusion.
Now watching more closely, he realized Ryosuke hadn't just raised his palm.
He was slapping away the repulsive force—over and over—his hand moving with such speed that Pain had missed it before. Each strike disrupted the force of Shinra Tensei.
Suddenly, space nearby distorted.
Two figures stepped out.
Before they could take in the battlefield, a clear voice echoed across the air.
"Five seconds."
Five seconds?
Snap—
A crisp sound—like shattering glass—rang in Pain's ears.
Pfft—
In that instant, the body of Tendo Pain vanished from Nagato's view.
In the dim chamber, Nagato had no time to react. Weakness gripped his limbs. Blood gushed from his throat. The last of his energy drained away.
Then—darkness.
"Eighty Gods Aerial Attack?!"
A voice shouted in horror from the battlefield.
"Oh?"
Ryosuke turned his head slightly, puzzled.
Though his Byakugan granted him nearly 360-degree perception, his focus during the earlier battle had been entirely on Pain—so he hadn't noticed these newcomers.
At the edge of the devastation, Uchiha Obito—still wearing his swirling mask—and Black Zetsu stood frozen.
They stared at Ryosuke, both wide-eyed—but for entirely different reasons.
"What a lunatic…"
Obito clicked his tongue, unnerved as he stared at the ruins of the Hidden Rain Village.
That Nagato guy... really was a madman. Ruthless even to his own people.
Definitely not someone to be underestimated.
Beside him, Black Zetsu was trembling.
His gaze was fixed on Ryosuke's pale skin, flowing white hair, and bright eyes. While not an exact match, the features... they echoed memories from long ago.
He looked like someone from the Otsutsuki clan.
And that technique just now—there was no mistaking it. It was the Eighty Gods Aerial Attack.
The same one recorded in his mother's memories.
Who was this man?
"Let's go! Take Nagato and leave now!"
Without hesitation, Black Zetsu grabbed Obito.
Despite centuries of schemes and manipulation, he was terrified.
Someone like that... had arrived on this planet.
Obito, still surveying the field, didn't fully understand—but trusted Zetsu's urgency. He activated Kamui and vanished.
"They got away…"
Ryosuke watched them disappear but didn't pursue.
For now, there was no way to restrain Obito's time-space ninjutsu.
But—
"This isn't the Eighty Gods Aerial Attack."
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